Elizabeth Musser on Offering Refuge(es) to Readers

I’m delighted to introduce our Heart”wings” readers to Elizabeth Musser today, and I’m excited to learn more about Elizabeth’s Offering Refuge(es) to my Readers and The Long Highway Home.

Over a decade ago, I read a lovely book set in Atlanta called The Swan House. I immediately connected with the story, having traveled often to Atlanta to visit family, even having visited the location where the novel was set. I loved Elizabeth’s later novels, as well. Her stories don’t shy away from tough issues, so I am looking forward to reading her latest work. I just had to invite her to share about it with all of us here!

Elizabeth has been a missionary in France for over twenty-five years. Welcome to Heart”wings!”

Bonjour, dear Janet!

I love the way the French language sounds! I can hear that in my mind 🙂 I think it’s wonderful that you work in missions. Tell us about your work and how that ties in with this new novel, The Long Highway Home.

In the summer of 1984, I, along with dozens of other missionaries working throughout Europe, gathered for our missions’ yearly conference in an Austrian castle-turned-retreat-center. It was a time to refresh our souls and be encouraged by fellowship with like-minded young people who were serving the Lord overseas.

On this night, the different teams were giving reports about their various ministries. I listened to fascinating stories of God’s mighty work among the missionaries who were smuggling Bibles from outside Vienna into the countries that sat behind the Iron Curtain.

That is amazing.

It all sounded so very exciting and rewarding.

Fast forward a few years to another conference. This time the former Bible smugglers were telling about their fledgling ministry to refugees. The Iron Curtain had come down and suddenly any and every one could take whatever they pleased into Eastern Europe. Many of our colleagues moved into Eastern European countries to begin ministries there.

But some stayed right in the village outside of Vienna where a young man I’ll call *Randy* had begun a ministry to refugees. In the 80s, he had trained to be a Bible smuggler. But when he got to this village with his teammates, he found that he wasn’t cut out for that job. And so, stuck in this village for his two-year term, he started visiting the Government Refugee Housing Center that was down the street. At that time, the imposing brick building housed mostly refugees who had fled from the East.

Randy began offering English lessons to the kids and then to the adults and eventually he began leading Bible studies. Gradually a ministry to refugees was born at a ministry center called The Oasis where believers served up coffee and Christ. The Oasis flourished and grew after the Iron Curtain came down.

I loved hearing the stories of refugees coming to Christ.

They sound like modern-day apostles. It gives me chills just thinking of it. I’m dying to hear more!

Fast forward again about twenty years when the Holy Spirit nudged my husband and me into a new job—that of giving pastoral care to our missions’ workers throughout Europe. Our home base remained in Lyon, France, but we traveled to thirteen different countries, interacting with missionaries on many different teams.

Suddenly, I was seeing first hand those ministries I had been hearing about at conferences for so many years. When visiting The Oasis, we had the privilege of interacting not only with the missionaries but also with the refugees who told stories of fleeing persecution along what is called The Refugee Highway and of finding hope at The Oasis.

These displaced people, mostly young Muslim men, played chess and Uno with the workers and volunteers. Some watched the Jesus film in their own language. Others attended clandestine Bible studies. And many found Jesus.

Praise the Lord for that!

I’d been writing recent historical, inspirational fiction ever since I met with an editor at a writers’ conference in 1994. Often my inspiration came from little known events in history that I’d learned about while living in France or from recent history in my beloved hometown of Atlanta.

But now, hearing these current stories of refugees, learning of changed lives, and meeting some of these precious people, I felt a new inspiration. And so I began to pen a story called The Long Highway Home, fiction that is nevertheless based on so many true stories of refugees and missionaries and the Spirit of God at work.

[Tweet The Long Highway Home, fiction based on true stories of refugees and missionaries….”]

This story sounds intriguing. Sounds like you have an insider’s view. I would love to know more about what is really going on.

As I wrote this novel, I certainly was not trying to make a political statement. Rather, I wanted to present my readers with a story that had touched and broken my heart. I wanted my readers to know that God is working in spite of all we see and hear in the news. My heart burned with joy as I heard testimonies of refugees seeing Jesus in a dream and seeking Him out. I wanted my readers to hear those stories too.

The great lesson I learned from attending The Oasis was something each of us can learn. Do what you can. Offer a smile, a sack of clothes, a warm meal, a whisper of hope, a Bible. The Lord wasn’t asking me to solve the huge worldwide dilemma of refugees. But I felt that I could do something—and that ‘something’ was to write a story that tells a few of their stories and those of hard-working missionaries who are giving their very lives for these people.

ELIZABETH MUSSER writes ‘entertainment with a soul’ from her writing chalet—tool shed—outside Lyon, France. Elizabeth’s highly acclaimed, best-selling novel, The Swan House, was named one of Amazon’s Top Christian Books of the Year and one of Georgia’s Top Ten Novels of the Past 100 Years. All of Elizabeth’s novels have been translated into multiple languages. The Long Highway Home has been a bestseller in Europe.

For over twenty-five years, Elizabeth and her husband, Paul, have been involved in missions’ work in Europe with International Teams. The Mussers have two sons, a daughter-in-law and three grandchildren who all live way too far away in America. Find more about Elizabeth’s novels at www.elizabethmusser.com and on Facebook, Twitter, and her blog. See photos from scenes in The Long Highway Home on Pinterest.

Elizabeth Musser has graciously offered one commenter a copy of The Long Highway Home (paperback U.S. only or eBook International)! Tell us what you think! Comment by July 24th, 2017 to be included in the drawing for the book!

Janet Ferguson

Janet W. Ferguson grew up in Mississippi and received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi. She has served as a children’s minister and a church youth volunteer. An avid reader, she worked as a librarian at a large public high school. She writes humorous inspirational fiction for people with real lives and real problems. Janet and her husband have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a few cats that allow them to share the space. Connect with her at http://www.janetfergusonauthor.com/

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40 Comments

Joyce Graves
on July 21, 2017 at 6:03 am

Janet and Elizabeth, what a great message to start my day! Elizabeth, I enjoyed your visit with Janet and getting to know your background story. Thank you for agreeing to come to our blog site today to share it with our readers.

Elizabeth, your testimony about your missionary work is amazing and I learned so much about what is happening behind the scenes. Through obedient and dedicated servants like you He is reaching out to so many hearts to bring them to salvation. Praise the Lord.

Janet, we are blessed to have you as a part of our Heart”wings” blog team ministry as we send our testimonies and messages of faith, hope, and love into an often dark and troubled world. As we shine His light we pray that our readers will be drawn closer to God through our blog messages so that they may be used for His glory and purpose. j

Great interview! Can’t wait to read Elizabeth’s new book…..I always read her books and love them. Thanks for your giveaway.
As to doing what we can….I have had to slow down in doing ministry things (was Church Admin. for 31 years) due to health issues. But I can always PRAY for others, send encouraging cards!
Janet, I love your books, too, and am checking every day for special prices!! lol

Do what you can kind of goes along with the starfish story Where they are all on the beach and the young lad said they couldn’t help them all. But one at a time they could do what they could.
The book sounds like a great read. Thank you for sharing.

Elizabeth, thank you for giving us the opportunity to learn more about what life is like for those living among and serving refugees. I love hearing how real-life events inspire a story. I also appreciated the reminder that God is at work and very much aware of the events of His Universe. Sometimes that’s easy to forget. Blessings!

Thanks, Heidi! I think all of my novels have been inspired at some level by real-life events. It is a privilege to write about the things that God is stirring in my heart. With the refugees, I was so encouraged to hear and see the wonderful things the Lord is doing–that we don’t hear about on the news.
Blessings!

I’ve read “The Long Highway Home” as an e-book, and loved it! My college roommate and her husband go to the Oasis every year to volunteer for several months! Anyway, I’d love to win a paperback copy so that I can pass it around to all my friends!

What a great visit, Janet! Thank you for introducing Elizabeth! And I loved your testimony, too, Elizabeth! I will have to add your book to my TBR bookcase! Yes, my pile got so tall, I had to get a special bookcase. Now that is just BLESSED, isn’t it? Hugs and blessings to you both!

Actually, Joyce, Margaret has won an autographed paperback copy of The Long Highway Home! Congrats, Margaret, and thanks again to you, Joyce and Janet, for inviting me to Heart”wings!” And blessings on all you lovely readers!

[Note from Joyce: Thank you Elizabeth ~ I have made the correction in my comments and know that Margaret it going to enjoy her gift from you! j]